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1.
There is an increasing need for students in the biological sciences to build a strong foundation in quantitative approaches to data analyses. Although most science, engineering, and math field majors are required to take at least one statistics course, statistical analysis is poorly integrated into undergraduate biology course work, particularly at the lower-division level. Elements of statistics were incorporated into an introductory biology course, including a review of statistics concepts and opportunity for students to perform statistical analysis in a biological context. Learning gains were measured with an 11-item statistics learning survey instrument developed for the course. Students showed a statistically significant 25% (p < 0.005) increase in statistics knowledge after completing introductory biology. Students improved their scores on the survey after completing introductory biology, even if they had previously completed an introductory statistics course (9%, improvement p < 0.005). Students retested 1 yr after completing introductory biology showed no loss of their statistics knowledge as measured by this instrument, suggesting that the use of statistics in biology course work may aid long-term retention of statistics knowledge. No statistically significant differences in learning were detected between male and female students in the study.  相似文献   

2.
We describe the development of a course to teach modeling and mathematical analysis skills to students of biology and to teach biology to students with strong backgrounds in mathematics, physics, or engineering. The two groups of students have different ways of learning material and often have strong negative feelings toward the area of knowledge that they find difficult. To give students a sense of mastery in each area, several complementary approaches are used in the course: 1) a “live” textbook that allows students to explore models and mathematical processes interactively; 2) benchmark problems providing key skills on which students make continuous progress; 3) assignment of students to teams of two throughout the semester; 4) regular one-on-one interactions with instructors throughout the semester; and 5) a term project in which students reconstruct, analyze, extend, and then write in detail about a recently published biological model. Based on student evaluations and comments, an attitude survey, and the quality of the students'' term papers, the course has significantly increased the ability and willingness of biology students to use mathematical concepts and modeling tools to understand biological systems, and it has significantly enhanced engineering students'' appreciation of biology.  相似文献   

3.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful method to silence gene expression in a variety of organisms and is generating interest not only as a useful tool for research scientists but also as a novel class of therapeutics in clinical trials. Here, we report that undergraduate and graduate students with a basic molecular biology background were able to demonstrate conceptual knowledge and technical skills for using RNAi as a research tool upon completion of an intensive 8-wk RNAi course with a 2-h lecture and 5-h laboratory per week. Students were instructed on design of RNAi experiments in model organisms and perform multiweek laboratory sessions based on journal articles read and discussed in class. Using Nicotiana benthamiana, Caenorhabditis elegans, and mammalian cell culture, students analyzed the extent of silencing using both qualitative assessment of phenotypic variations and quantitative measurements of RNA levels or protein levels. We evaluated the course over two semesters, each with a separate instructor. In both semesters, we show students met expected learning outcomes as demonstrated by successful laboratory experiment results, as well as positive instructor assessments of exams and lab reports. Student self-assessments revealed increased confidence in conceptual knowledge and practical skills. Our data also suggest that the course is adaptable to different instructors with varying expertise.  相似文献   

4.
Today, more minority students are entering undergraduate programs than ever before, but they earn only 6% of all science or engineering PhDs awarded in the United States. Many studies suggest that hands-on research activities enhance students' interest in pursuing a research career. In this paper, we present a model for the implementation of laboratory research in the undergraduate teaching laboratory using a culturally relevant approach to engage students. Laboratory modules were implemented in upper-division genetics and cell biology courses using cassava as the central theme. Students were asked to bring cassava samples from their respective towns, which allowed them to compare their field-collected samples against known lineages from agricultural stations at the end of the implementation. Assessment of content and learning perceptions revealed that our novel approach allowed students to learn while engaged in characterizing Puerto Rican cassava. In two semesters, based on the percentage of students who answered correctly in the premodule assessment for content knowledge, there was an overall improvement of 66% and 55% at the end in the genetics course and 24% and 15% in the cell biology course. Our proposed pedagogical model enhances students' professional competitiveness by providing students with valuable research skills as they work on a problem to which they can relate.  相似文献   

5.
Immersion learning is one form of experiential education and has great utility in social work education. However, there is limited research on student learning outcomes from immersion learning courses in social work education. This ethnographic research describes an immersion learning course offered to BSW students (N = 9) and the learning outcomes gained. This semester-long course focused on macrolevel practice with people experiencing poverty, homelessness, and the sexual exploitation of women. As part of this course, students went on a weeklong immersion trip, where they visited a dozen human service organizations and interacted with people experiencing poverty and homelessness. Qualitative analysis produced three findings. First, students reported that these interactions helped them realize their biases and impacted their understanding of poverty. Second, students reported enhanced social work practice skills, such as cultural competency, self-awareness, and interpersonal expertise. They also gained a better appreciation for macrolevel practice. Third, students reported a better understanding of how to deploy classroom knowledge in practice and how to apply what they learned back in the classroom. These findings have implications for undergraduate social work education and how immersion learning programs can be a tool for enriching both knowledge and practice skills.  相似文献   

6.
We transformed our first-year curriculum in biology with a new course, Biological Inquiry, in which >50% of all incoming, first-year students enroll. The course replaced a traditional, content-driven course that relied on outdated approaches to teaching and learning. We diversified pedagogical practices by adopting guided inquiry in class and in labs, which are devoted to building authentic research skills through open-ended experiments. Students develop core biological knowledge, from the ecosystem to molecular level, and core skills through regular practice in hypothesis testing, reading primary literature, analyzing data, interpreting results, writing in disciplinary style, and working in teams. Assignments and exams require higher-order cognitive processes, and students build new knowledge and skills through investigation of real-world problems (e.g., malaria), which engages students’ interest. Evidence from direct and indirect assessment has guided continuous course revision and has revealed that compared with the course it replaced, Biological Inquiry produces significant learning gains in all targeted areas. It also retains 94% of students (both BA and BS track) compared with 79% in the majors-only course it replaced. The project has had broad impact across the entire college and reflects the input of numerous constituencies and close collaboration among biology professors and students.  相似文献   

7.
This exploratory study was conducted in an introductory biology course to determine 1) how students used the large lecture environment to create their own learning tasks during studying and 2) whether meaningful learning resulted from the students' efforts. Academic task research from the K–12 education literature and student approaches to learning research from the postsecondary education literature provided the theoretical framework for the mixed methods study. The subject topic was cell division. Findings showed that students 1) valued lectures to develop what they believed to be their own understanding of the topic; 2) deliberately created and engaged in learning tasks for themselves only in preparation for the unit exam; 3) used course resources, cognitive operations, and study strategies that were compatible with surface and strategic, rather than deep, approaches to learning; 4) successfully demonstrated competence in answering familiar test questions aligned with their surface and strategic approaches to studying and learning; and 5) demonstrated limited meaningful understanding of the significance of cell division processes. Implications for introductory biology education are discussed.  相似文献   

8.
This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher education: technology and the students themselves. Most of the lectures were replaced with continuous individual learning and 1-mo group learning of one topic, both supported by an interactive online tutorial. Assessment included open-ended complex questions requiring higher-order thinking skills that were added to the traditional multiple-choice (MC) exam. Analysis of students’ outcomes indicates no significant difference among the three intervention versions in the MC questions of the exam, while students who took part in active-learning groups at the advanced version of the model had significantly higher scores in the more demanding open-ended questions compared with their counterparts. We believe that social-constructivist learning of one topic during 1 mo has significantly contributed to student deep learning across topics. It developed a biological discourse, which is more typical to advanced stages of learning biology, and changed the image of instructors from “knowledge transmitters” to “role model scientists.”  相似文献   

9.
In this paper, we expose the unique challenges confronting graduate field-ecology students and the coping strategies they adopt to overcome such challenges. To do so, we used a qualitative (in vivo) research method that combines interviews, observations and open questionnaires with a group of five Israeli graduate students. The two major challenges that the students faced were the uncontrolled nature of field research (or complexity), and the nature of field setting, which isolated the students from authoritative guidance. In response to these challenges, the students developed a set of research skills which were expressed in this study by a series of three (metacognitive) strategies which we designated as ‘protocol-dominated’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘field-dominated’. In order to develop such research skills, our subjects rely upon declarative and procedural knowledge. In contrast to declarative knowledge, learned in coursework, procedural knowledge is learned and activated via the situated experience of implementing research in authentic field environments. We also found that fieldwork complexity imposes itself the minute the students step into the field; potentially, this can negatively impact students' motivation. However, as the students accumulate field experience and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to overcome the field's complexity, their motivation improves. Recognizing the unique learning components connected to field research will help novice students better cope with fieldwork challenges, as well as help their advisers in guiding them. This work also has implications for designing inquiry curricula in field sciences for university and high-school students.  相似文献   

10.
Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?   总被引：22，自引：0，他引：22  
Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving. In PBL, student learning centers on a complex problem that does not have a single correct answer. Students work in collaborative groups to identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem. They engage in self-directed learning (SDL) and then apply their new knowledge to the problem and reflect on what they learned and the effectiveness of the strategies employed. The teacher acts to facilitate the learning process rather than to provide knowledge. The goals of PBL include helping students develop 1) flexible knowledge, 2) effective problem-solving skills, 3) SDL skills, 4) effective collaboration skills, and 5) intrinsic motivation. This article discusses the nature of learning in PBL and examines the empirical evidence supporting it. There is considerable research on the first 3 goals of PBL but little on the last 2. Moreover, minimal research has been conducted outside medical and gifted education. Understanding how these goals are achieved with less skilled learners is an important part of a research agenda for PBL. The evidence suggests that PBL is an instructional approach that offers the potential to help students develop flexible understanding and lifelong learning skills.  相似文献   

11.
Strong metacognition skills are associated with learning outcomes and student performance. Metacognition includes metacognitive knowledge—our awareness of our thinking—and metacognitive regulation—how we control our thinking to facilitate learning. In this study, we targeted metacognitive regulation by guiding students through self-evaluation assignments following the first and second exams in a large introductory biology course (n = 245). We coded these assignments for evidence of three key metacognitive-regulation skills: monitoring, evaluating, and planning. We found that nearly all students were willing to take a different approach to studying but showed varying abilities to monitor, evaluate, and plan their learning strategies. Although many students were able to outline a study plan for the second exam that could effectively address issues they identified in preparing for the first exam, only half reported that they followed their plans. Our data suggest that prompting students to use metacognitive-regulation skills is effective for some students, but others need help with metacognitive knowledge to execute the learning strategies they select. Using these results, we propose a continuum of metacognitive regulation in introductory biology students. By refining this model through further study, we aim to more effectively target metacognitive development in undergraduate biology students.  相似文献   

12.
Biology of the twenty-first century is an increasingly quantitative science. Undergraduate biology education therefore needs to provide opportunities for students to develop fluency in the tools and language of quantitative disciplines. Quantitative literacy (QL) is important for future scientists as well as for citizens, who need to interpret numeric information and data-based claims regarding nearly every aspect of daily life. To address the need for QL in biology education, we incorporated quantitative concepts throughout a semester-long introductory biology course at a large research university. Early in the course, we assessed the quantitative skills that students bring to the introductory biology classroom and found that students had difficulties in performing simple calculations, representing data graphically, and articulating data-driven arguments. In response to students'' learning needs, we infused the course with quantitative concepts aligned with the existing course content and learning objectives. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by significant improvement in the quality of students'' graphical representations of biological data. Infusing QL in introductory biology presents challenges. Our study, however, supports the conclusion that it is feasible in the context of an existing course, consistent with the goals of college biology education, and promotes students'' development of important quantitative skills.  相似文献   

13.
This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre‐service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in ‘unplanned’ informal reflection (reflection‐in‐action and reflection‐on‐action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students’ reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students’ learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students’ reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers’ reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.  相似文献   

14.
作为农业院校生物学专业的核心课程,细胞生物学具有知识更新快、课程内容多而零散、传统上课效果不佳等特点。文章针对如何提高细胞生物学教学效果,激发学生学习兴趣,提升学生自主学习能力等,总结了教学过程中的几点尝试:一是优化理论课教学内容,增强授课的生动性与趣味性;二是增加文献阅读和讨论,培养学生独立学习、整合学习资源的能力;三是鼓励学生进入实验室,提高教与学的效果。实践证明,这些措施可有效提高本院各专业细胞生物学的教学效果。  相似文献   

15.
Abstract

This study compares learning success of online and on-campus students in a general education soil science course with lab and field components. Two terms of students completed standardized pre- and postassessments designed to test knowledge and skills from the lecture and lab content of the course. There was no difference in overall grade or lab assignment grades between course formats. Online students outperformed on-campus students on the preassessment in the first term and on the post-assessment in the second term; the two populations scored the similarly for the other assessments. Online students showed a 42% grade improvement from pre- to post-assessment; on-campus students had a 21% improvement. Online students also showed better learning success in lab-related knowledge and skills based on individual assessment questions. The students in both populations successfully met the learning objectives for this lab- and field-based science course.  相似文献   

16.
The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of student teachers participating in an introductory course, designed to stimulate the development of a positive attitude towards research and to stimulate the development of research knowledge and skills by second-year student teachers of an institute of primary teacher education. A questionnaire (N = 81) was used to measure the students’ attitude and perceptions of the development of their attitude towards research, their perceived development of research knowledge and skills and what parts of the introductory course they perceived to be responsible for these developments. According to the students’ perceptions, the introductory course contributed to the development of both a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills. The students indicated that examples from practice, authentic learning tasks and working in pairs or groups contributed most to the development of their attitude, knowledge and skills.  相似文献   

17.
Students in their first year of university face a number of transition issues that can make realising their academic potential difficult. In the sciences, first-year courses cover a large amount of material across broad subject areas, which can make them troublesome for students without background knowledge, and students need to adapt to typically large class sizes and develop active, independent learning skills. We expected a student's prior learning to be important to their academic performance in a large, first-year introductory biology subject and analysed the relationships between students' results in this course with their senior high school results in related subjects over three years from 2007 to 2009. We predicted that students with prior learning in biology would have higher results than those without it, but that chemistry might also be important, given the biochemical nature of much of the course content. Students who completed biology at the senior high school-level did perform better than those who had not, but only if they also completed chemistry. Prior learning in biology was of no benefit to students in first-year biology, except when combined with chemistry, suggesting that potential differences in biology curricula between high school and the first year at university may need to be addressed.  相似文献   

18.
The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a field-based, inquiry-focused course on pre-service teachers?? geoscience content knowledge, attitude toward science, confidence in teaching science, and inquiry understanding and skills. The field-based course was designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, compare, and investigate geological structures in their natural environment and to gain an understanding of inquiry via hands-on learning activities designed to immerse students in authentic scientific investigation. ANCOVA and MANCOVA analyses examining differences in outcome measures between students in the field experience (n?=?25) and education students enrolled in the traditional, classroom-based course (n?=?37) showed that students in the field course generally had significantly higher scores. Results provide evidence of the value of the field and inquiry-based approach in helping pre-service teachers develop the needed skills and knowledge to create effective inquiry-based science lessons.  相似文献   

19.
This study explored a new strategy of assessing laboratory skills in a molecular biology course to improve: student effort in preparation for and participation in laboratory work; valid evaluation of learning outcomes; and students’ employment prospects through provision of evidence of their skills. Previously, assessment was based on written laboratory reports and examinations, not on the demonstration of practical skills per se. This action research project involved altering the assessment design so that a greater proportion of the marks was allocated to active participation and learning in the laboratory, partially replacing a single examination with direct observation of student participation and learning over a prolonged period of weekly laboratory sessions. We ascertained staff and students’ perceptions of the new assessment processes by means of a Likert scale questionnaire, student focus group and individual staff interviews. Overall, students and staff evaluated the new assessment structure positively, citing fairness, authenticity and reward for effort. Results also revealed the need for specific training of staff in this form of assessment and indicated staff–student ratios made assessment burdensome. Four out of five students reported that an increased awareness of the importance of practical laboratory skills stimulated them to greater efforts to achieve.  相似文献   

20.
This study explored and documented students' responses to opportunities for collective knowledge building and collaboration in a problem-solving process within complex environmental challenges and pressing issues with various dimensions of knowledge and skills. Middle-school students (n =?16; age 14) and high-school students (n?=?16; age 17) from two Singapore public institutions participated in an environmental science field study to experience knowledge integration and a decision-making process. Students worked on six research topics to understand the characteristics of an organic farm and plan for building an ecological village. Students collected and analysed data from the field and shared their findings. Their field work and discussions were video-recorded, and their reflective notes and final reports were collected for data coding and interpretation. The results revealed that throughout the study, students experienced the needs and development of integrated knowledge, encountered the challenges of knowledge sharing and communication during their collaboration, and learned how to cope with the difficulties. Based on research findings, this study further discusses students' learning through a collaborative problem-solving process, including the interdependence of knowledge and the development of mutual relationships such as respect and care for others' knowledge and learning.  相似文献   

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